14 miles on the Dreadmill...

Dear Winter, 

I hate you. I hate that Every. Single. Day. I wake up to a stupid igloo graphic on Weatherbug because you can't get your S@!t together to get the temperature up above zero....Fahrenheit. Thanks for the gusts of wind, snow squalls & ice. They are awesome 😳. I have put up with a lot and done my runs outside anyway. But I have a spring marathon to run...that I WANT to run. And well. Today, because I couldn't figure out a way to run outside for almost 2 1/2 hours without getting frostbite I was forced onto the dreadmill. It was awful. 

Here are some 'highlights':

-I arrived in the middle of a 'treading' class. The only open mill was at the front right by the yelling instructor. 40 minutes of this. 

-I couldn't figure out how to reset the pre-set 1 hour time limit right away so had to do it in 2 time blocks....kinda takes the bada$$ out of your workout when the new person next to you looks at you sweating like a pig and the mill says 1 mile. I kinda wanted to yell "plus 6.25!!!" 

-I watched Day of our Lives for the first time since we used to watch it in the student lounge in University in 1991. The people are the same. I picked it up right away. That is sad. 

-It is also possible to simultaneously watch CNN, Rachel Ray & The President & Veep run around the White House and follow along with all of them if the closed captioning is on. 

-I NEVER want to do that again. 

-it caused me anxiety not being able to Garmin my run so I can analyze splits. 

-I nailed my last 3 miles at marathon pace. Sub mp actually. 9:40, 9:50, 9:30

So, winter, that's it. We are done. Finito. Bring on the global warming. 

GOLD!!!!!!

What can I say? Double hockey gold again! The women were down 2-0 with 2 minutes left in the game...didn't give up, put everything out there and tied it up with just seconds left in the game & won in sudden death OT. That'll teach my co-worker to send me a trash talk text with 2 minutes left in the game. 

The men showed Sweden who's boss this morning getting past Lundquist for a 3-0 victory! That was some GREAT hockey all series!

Plus double gold in Curling! Canada is a happy happy country right now! 

Oh, I had a good run too today...6 miles @ 9:58 pace :)

I love running but...

I AM CANADIAN so....I was up early to get my 14 miler in in the pouring rain (whaatttt?!?) before THE GAME. (It sucked btw...felt awful, tired and slow...& was weirdly surprised to find my pace was EXACTLY the same as my PR marathon pace....so this is good right?) 

Anyway, for those of you that don't understand the culture of hockey...this is actually not a joke:

Business stopped & schools showed the game in classrooms. 

Here in upstate NY, we huddled in our basement in our 'lucky' shirts & watched a heck of a game! Quick is a heck of a goalie! In fact this entire tournament has rested on the shoulders of some incredible net minders. 

I biked watching today's game...it made me sad. I think Kane was close to tears as it all fell apart. Teemu Selane is a class act though. 6 Olympics for Finland and 43 points earned. Amazing! 

...& in case you were wondering, yes we will be up at 0630 to see the gold medal game...& I'll be wearing my lucky socks...

What a Day!

I know I have been delinquent with my posts as of late, but I just had to share my proud parent moment!

I am jealous!

Look at the form they have!

With this winter horrilibus full of polar vortexes and blizzard after blizzard, the indoor track season has been decimated with cancelled meets. The coaches have been so wonderful though, working hard to organize an extra meet and also work with the wonderful folks at the Finger Lakes Runners Club to add in Highschool only heats to their open meets so that the times would be 'official' for the kids that decided to run there. Today, we trekked to Ithaca because both boys wanted one last chance to run the mile. Thing 1 wanting to hit the 4:52:07 state qualifier time & thing 2 wanted to break 5 for the first time.

Thing 2 kills it!

I could not be a prouder mama! Thing 1 didn't make his goal but he did run a season PR of 4:57 & he was gracious in defeat & supportive of his brother. Today was Thing 2's day. Not only did he break 5 & beat his big brother for the first time, but he layed down a 4:52 & may be going to the state qualifier meet next weekend!!!! 

I had dueling emotions watching...bursting with pride at T2 as he ran smart and hard. Then I felt dread as I could see, almost in slo-mo, how it was going to play out. I knew that if T2 was anywhere close to T1 he would outkick him. And I also saw hesitation to do it at 2 laps to go. Thing 2 looked like he started to make a move, then hesitated and hung to thing 1's shoulder. Then at 1.5 laps to go I saw Thing 2 draw himself up & go for it. He passed his brother & that was it. He had it. 

Teammates!

And then, just for fun, they threw together a 4x400 team. Wackadoodlez!

The handoff...

What an emotional roller coaster! But I am SO very proud of both of them :)

I still needed a run today & as we drove home the snow started. Again. Channeling a little Olympic mojo, I threw on my Newton Boco's and layed down an awesome 5 miler in 9:30 miles. I love those shoes! They grip the snow like the jaws of life! Snow & hills are no match for them! Marathon training is right on track. 

I love a peaceful snowy run!

Who's watching the Olympics? That slope style snowboarding is totes cray...as the kids say;). And I now covet a pair of XC skiis...those skiathlon guys are hardcore!